Method of and machine for finishing cloth



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' I W. HEBDON. METHOD OF AND MAGHINE FOR FINISHING CLOTH.

Patented Jan. 30, 1894.

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W. HEBDON.

METHOD OF AND MAGHINE FOR FINISHING CLOTH.

Patented Jan. 30, 1894..

INVENTEI RI UNITE STATES PATENT GFFICE.

WILLIAM HEBDON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

METHOD OF AND MACHINE FOR FINISHING CLOTH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 513,926, dated January 30, 1894. Application filed April 3, 1893. Serial No. 468,859. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, WILLIAM HEBDON, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of and Machines for Finishing Cloth,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved process of and apparatus for finishing cloth, including the sponging, shrinking and pressing of the same.

The object of the invention is to provide a method and apparatus which will do away with rotary presses and flat plates such as at present employed to finish the cloth after it has been sponged, and to employ a coldpressing process.

To these ends, the invention consists in the novel method and apparatus which will be described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate the invention: Figure 1 shows a side elevation of the sponging apparatus. Fig. 2 shows a side elevation of one end of the sponging apparatus and of the cold-pressing apparatus. Figs. 3 and 4 show details of a tension device employed in the machine. Fig. 5 shows a fragmentary end view ofparts appearing in Fig. 2. I

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

The sponging apparatus will first be described.

Theletter a designates a supporting-frame, which may be of any suitable form and construction, and is provided with bearings for a pair of hollow drums or cylinders 11 and b. Steam is introduced into these cylinders through suitably valved pipes 0.

An improved form of tension-device is supported on the frame, and consists of a pair of rollers (1, connected together at their ends by cross-heads d, and free to turn on pins (1 projecting from said cross-heads. The crossheads are pivotally connected with the frame by means of screws d 7 One of said crossheads is provided with a'boss or hub e, which engages a stud 6 formed on the frame. The boss e is provided with a series of orifices or perforations c and the stud c is formed with adepression e adapted to register with any one of the perforations 6 The tension device maybe turned to any angle on its pivot, and secured at various adjustments by means of a pin f, inserted through one of the perforations in the hub e and into the depression in the stud c. The cloth g, in its open width, after having been dampened by a suitable process, such as described in my former patent, No. 276,036, for example, is carried through the tension device at one end of the frame, the said cloth passing over one of the tension-rolls d and under the other. The cloth is then carried to the cylinder 1), on which it is wound under the tension to which it is subjected bypassing over the rolls (1.

It will be seen that, by adjusting the tension-device, as hereinbefore explained, the tension on the cloth may be varied, and different kinds of cloth may be subjected to different tensions, as may be found desirable. The cloth is allowed to remain upon the first cylinder b until it has become thoroughly heated by the steam introduced into the said cylinder, and its outer end is then carried to the second cylinder 12', and the cloth is wound upon this cylinder as it is unwound from the first cylinder 1). It will be seen that,

on the second cylinder 1), that end of the cloth which was outermost on the first cylinder b is now the innermost end. Hence, after the cloth has been subjected to the heat of the two cylinders 12 and b, the cloth having been Wound upon them in the manner described,-it will be foundthat the cloth is uniformly heated throughout all its parts.

The cloth is carried from the sponging apparatus to a cold-pressing apparatus, which will be next described.

A pair of cold cylinders h and h are sup ported in bearings on a frame h, and a cold sheet of flexible material,s, such as press-paper, is fastened to said cylindersyand arranged to be wound upon one while it is being unwound from the other, and vice versa. Between the cylinders, a tension-device, of similar construction to that before described with reference to the sponging apparatus, is mounted in bearings on the frame It, and comprises rollers 2 and i. The press-paper, which is designated 3, passes from one cylinder it over the roller c' and under the roller 4." and thence to the other cylinder h. In this manner a tension is put upon the press-paper, and this tension may be varied by turning the tension-device to diiferent angular positions, so that the rolls '5 and i" bear with more or less pressure against the paper.

After the cloth has been treated in the sponging apparatus, it is carried through a tension-device k, of similar construction to that before described, and is started on the cold cylinder h. This cylinder is then revolved by any suitable means, and the cloth and press-paper are wound upon it, the presspaper being interposed between the convolutions of the cloth. In this way the press-paper serves as a means for pressing the cloth and imparting to it a finish which will be uniform and lasting. When the cloth has been subjected to the action of the cold cylinder and press-paper a sufficient length of time, the frame h, which is mounted on casters m, is turned around so as to reverse the positions of the two cylinders h and 71 The press-paper has all been unwound from the second cylinder 7L2, and the latter is empty and ready to receive the next piece of cloth. The cloth is started'on this second cylinder, and, upon revolving the same, it will be seen that the cloth and press-paper will be wound upon it in the same manner as described with reference to the first cylinder; at the same time, the first cylinder his being revolved and the cloth unwound from it and laid in folds or otherwise disposed of, while the press-paper is wound back upon the second roll.

Suitable means will be provided to retard the rotary motion of the cold cylinder so as to prevent the cloth from unwinding too rapidly. In the present instance, the journals n of the cylinders are screw-threaded, and receive adj usting-nuts n. A disk 0 is pressed against the bearing by a spring 0 interposed between said disk and the adj listing-nut, and the disk serves as a brake to retard the cylinder.

The advantages of my improved method and apparatus, as herein described, are numerous and important. The cloth may be readily examined after sponging, and during the sponging operation may be subjected to a degree of tension consistent with the nature of the cloth under treatment. Gold-pressing by this new process produces what may be termed a mellow finish, whereas hotpressing by the old method producesa harsh finish. The interposition of the press-paper during the pressing operation prevents contact between the back surface of the cloth and the face, and thus the transfer of an impression from the back surface to the face is avoided. The uniform heating of the cloth in the sponging operation results in a uniform finish, and there will be no shady appearance such as occurs in cloth treated in a rotary press or by hot plates. The finish will also be found permanent, and not a fugitive finish such as given to the cloth by the rotary press.

It is evident that other constructions might be employed in carrying out the invention besides that illustrated, and therefore I do not confine myself to such construction, but consider myself entitled to all variations which lie within the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The improved process of finishing cloth, consisting in first sponging and heating the cloth in open width, and then cold-rolling it while hot and under tension in a pressingsheet, substantially as described.

2. Acloth-finishing machine, comprising in its construction a cylinder on which the cloth is wound, tension-rollers supported by heads which are pivotally mounted, one of said heads having a perforated hub, a supportingframe having a stud engaging said hub and provided with a depression to register with the perforations in the hub, and a pin to engage said perforations and the depression in the stud.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 1st day of April, A. D. 1893.

WILLIAM IIEBDON.

Witnesses:

C. F. BROWN, F. PARKER DAVIS. 

